Improvement in windmills



UNITED STATES v PATENT OFFICE.

WHJLIAM D. NICHOLS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WINDMILLS.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 102,032, dated April19, 1870.

.T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VILLIAM D. NICHOLS, of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements inWindmills, of which the following is a specification.

rlhe nature of my invention consists in so attaching the governing ballsor weights to the arms of a self-regulating rosette-windmill as thateach ball shall be connected with two sets or sections of sails of themill, each set or section of sails connecting with two balls, the objectbeing to prevent the vibration which occurs in ordinary windmills,caused by the inertia and weight of the governingballs bearing upon thesails in different directions as the mill moves around, as more fullyhereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front view of my inventionwith the sails thrown in the wind. Fig. 2 is a section along the line.fr of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a front View of my invention with the sailsthrown out of the wind. Fig. 4 is a section along the liney y of Fig. 3.

A are the arms of the wind-wheel, carrie by the shaft B.

C are the governing balls or weights, attached to the rods D, which arepivoted'to the ends of the said arms A.

E are the several sets or sections of sails, composed of the slats e,fixed to the cross-bar F and head-bar G. The sets or sections of sails Eare pivoted severally to the arms A at H.

J are connecting-rods extending from the balls C to the center of thehead-bar G, each ball being connected to the head-bars upon either sidethereof, so that the motion of one ball is felt around the entire seriesof sails.

The sets or sections of sails E are connected bythe usual contrivance oflevers to the ordinarysliding head, neither of which is shown in thedrawings.

The operation of the governing-balls C is as follows: Vhen the wind ishigh, the rapidity of revolution of the wheel throws the balls outward.The sails are thereby lifted through the connecting-rods J and presentless surface to the wind. They are brought back to the normal positionby the ordinary contrivance of a weighted lever attached to the slidinghead, or any of the ordinary methods.

Governing-balls have hitherto ordinarily been attached to and carriedupon the sails or upon the pivoting-bar thereof, and the weight oftheball,when in certain positions, has a tendency, when so attached, totilt the sail either back or forward upon its bearings, bringing it awrywith the other sails, causing thus at each revolution a lateralvibration, which tends to hinder the motion and wear out the mill. Itwill be readily perceived that in my invention this vibration is almostentirely done away with, by reason of the governing-balls being attachedto the arms instead of the sails, and any tendency of the sails to tiltof their own weight is corrected and prevented by the bracing of theconnecting-rods J, so that if one sail tilts the whole series must tiltin like manner.

I claim as my invention- The series of weights C, when hinged to thearms A of a rosette-windmill, and connected to the sets of sails, so asto operate them, substantially as specied and shown.

WILLIAM D. NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

J. WV. MUNDAY, J. K. AUsTIN.

